A Poor Man’s Diary

Ronnie was born with a talent and the ability to get rich.
He'd set his goal but constantly fell into a deep ditch.
He'd get up and dust himself off with his fire still lit.
As long as he focused on his goal he would not quit.

He was almost at the finish line when he slipped and fell.
It wasn't long after that when his fresh thoughts turned stale.
After years of hard work, he put his dreams on hold.
When he awakened the next morning he was suddenly old.

Realizing that dreams still come true, he leaped to his feet.
Discouraged by his reflection in the mirror he accepted defeat.
Ronnie died in poverty on a little beat-up old bed.
He left behind a completed diary and this is what it said.
"I should've, would've, could've: that's the story of my life.
I've even lost all that I thought I had- including my two-timing wife.

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Editor’s Note

The number one question our editors receive is—what do the editors and judges look for when judging the contest? The number one answer we give is creativity. Unlike prose, writing composed in everyday language, poetry is considered a creative art and requires a different type of effort and a certain level of depth. Of the thousands of poems entered in each contest, the ones that catch our judges’ eyes are the ones that remove us, even just slightly, from the scope of everyday life by using language that is interesting, specific, vivid, obscure, compelling, figurative, and so on. Oftentimes, poems are pulled aside for a second look based simply on certain words that intrigued the reader. So first and foremost, be sure your poetry is written using creative language. Take general ideas and make them personal. In his infamous book De/Compositions: 101 Good Poems Gone Wrong, W. D. Snodgrass imparts, “We cannot honestly discuss or represent our lives, any more than our poems, without using ideational language.”